Delay today due to weather.

No science or jr. high math.

See you at 10.

NO SCHOOL ON JANUARY 13.

Call it a Teacher's Day! Several of our teachers are not available to teach on January 13. Students will still have assignments and semester one ends January 14. Please be sure to get all missing/incomplete assignments turned in.


Moms, this is a great time to HOMESCHOOL your student! Read over the assignments and make sure your student understands the requirements. Help them through the material if they need the help.

November

November 13 POST ON YOUR CALENDAR!


In this season of Thanksgiving and Christmas gift-giving, you have an opportunity to participate with your children in a mission oriented activity by coming to the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party on Thursday, November 13 at 7 p.m.


We will provide shoeboxes; you bring a bulk item containing 20 items that will be split up to pack. Suggestions include wash cloths, soap bars, small cars/toys/dolls, Kleenex packages, crayons, art/craft supplies, tools, sewing kits, kid jewelry, games. You can find these at the Dollar Store, or Target has a dollar section and there are good ideas in the kids party section, watch clearance areas and watch for coupons/rebates/rewards at Walgreens and Menards. At our party, we will create a assembly line with the donated items and pack as many boxes as we can! In addition, we will collect donations of $$ for the $7 shipping cost for each box. These boxes are then shipped around the world, often to nearly inaccessible places where there are children in need. Many of these children have never received a gift in their lives! We will hear some stories of the children who have been impacted by this program.


If you can't attend the party, you can still participate! Leave donations toward the shipping cost in an envelope and mark it for Shoebox Project. Donate items to pack.


This is your time to shine! Make a difference in the world today and teach your children that they can make a difference too!


November 25: No co-op classes! Week of Thanksgiving--we have much to be thankful for!


Advance notice: Gateway Christian Fellowship will be hosting a Christmas Brunch and Drama on Sunday, December 21. More info to follow.

October

Fall Break! No classes on October 28.

Out-Of-the-Box Event: We have a special event planned for students on October 30 at 6 p.m.

                  You are invited to the Walgrave Astoria's Annual Costume Ball.

This is a murder mystery in which all attendees are participants! Please sign up on Tuesday. All attendees will be given roles. Come in costume and wear your 'thinking caps' to solve the mystery that unfolds over the evening. The cost is $6 and includes appetizer, dinner and dessert. (This will work your thinking and logic skills as well as your drama skills!)

Shedd Aquarium Learning Center Lab and field trip: This is scheduled for December 3. Sign up deadline is November 4. Middle school students will participate in a group lab dissecting a squid. High school students will participate in a fish dissection. The price includes the lab, an Aquatic Show, access to the Oceanarium and the exhibit halls of the Aquarium. Bring a sack lunch.

Biology students are required to attend. Biology has a dissection requirement.

Cost:
Students (middle and high school students attending the lab) $12
Students not attending the lab (younger siblings) FREE
Adults $15

Payment due by November 4.

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Project: With the holidays just around the corner, we want to be thinking about and preparing for our Shoebox Packing Party on November 13 at 7 p.m. Please watch for items to purchase that will pack well in shoeboxes for children around the world in need. This is an activity that families can do together and is a great way to help our children learn to think about the needs of others. Information about this project is available at Gateway.

Fieldtrip Opportunities

Please sign up for upcoming fieldtrips as soon as possible. If we do not get enough participation, they may be cancelled.


September 25: Creation Museum, Petersburg, KY


October 22: Field Museum, Chicago (Deadline to sign up is October 6. Must have payment by then.)


December 3: Shedd Aquarium (Dissection lab), Chicago  (Deadline to sign up is November 11. Must have payment by then!)


We will be collecting for and packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse. Please consider picking up items now as you see them on clearance/sale. School supplies, small toys, soap bars, washcloths, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair items, small sewing kits, jewelry, socks, etc. all make nice additions to the boxes. This will be our "Mission" for November.

Hello and Welcome to Gateway!

 

Believe it or not, it is time to start another year at Gateway. We have been doing lots of planning and we are looking forward to another great year.  There is lots of information for you here so please read all the way through it. (There is an interactive part too!)

 

Classes begin on Tuesday, August 26, at 8:30 a.m. for Biology students and 8:45 for Basic/Pre-Alg. Students. Hot lunch will be sloppy joes and sides for $4.

 

IMPORTANT: We will hold ORIENTATION for students and parents during the lunch hour and again at 7 p.m on August 26. We are trying to save everyone some time by scheduling this on the first day of school. If you will be around during the school day, please join us at 11:45 for mid-day orientation. For those of you not available during the day, we will repeat orientation at 7 p.m.  PLEASE RESPOND BY EMAIL to let us know which one you will attend.

 

We already have many activities planned for the new year with more to come! The first BIG EVENT will be on Thursday, September 4. 

Because we wanted to extend the Labor Day holiday weekend, we will  not have classes on Tuesday, September 2. However, we are inviting all students to join us on Thursday for an "Out-of-the-Box" school day from 10-2 at my house: 14373 W. 132nd Place, Cedar Lake. Our activities are intended to be team building but will cover a History class, some Bible, Logic and physical ed. We are hoping to have a moms' discussion, as well, to discuss vision for homeschooling, help needed at co-op and so on. For lunch we will roast hot dogs. In case of rain, we will meet at Gateway.  Again,PLEASE RESPOND BY EMAIL to let us know how many will attend.. Siblings are welcome but please monitor them.

 

We are planning on several field trips this year. These are always optional but very much encouraged as a way to 'experience' learning. Families are welcome to join in. Transportation is your responsibility.

 

There are sign up sheets at Gateway for two of our scheduled field trips:

 

Thursday, September 25, you are invited to join us for a field trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. We have a group rate of $13.00 for adults (over 18) and $10 for students (3-18). We need to check in all together at 10 a.m. They are on Eastern Time so they are an hour ahead of us. It takes about 4 hours to drive there. Some are talking about driving to Indianapolis the day before where there are many neat field trip opportunities as well.

 

Wednesday, October 22, you are invited to join us on a trip to the Chicago Field Museum where they have an excellent exhibit on Ancient Egypt. We are to arrive by 10 a.m. Students will be free and adults cost $13.50. Payment is required by October 7. We will be creating a Student Scavenger hunt for this trip. You might consider taking the train if you don't like driving to Chicago.

 

School supply recommendations:  Some of the teachers will be sending you information directly, however, there are some general recommendations. 

 

All students will benefit from a Student Agenda or plan book. It is difficult to stay on top of assignments without it. Think of our co-op as working on a 'college' model. Students will receive information in several classes on one day and then have work to do all week. Organization is key!

 

Consider 3-ring binders, highlighters, notecards for vocabulary, post-it notes for literature, etc. NOTE: All assignments are supposed to be typed and submitted online for high school classes.

 

TUITION: 1st semester tuition is Due by September 9. Those paying monthly need to turn in their payments on the first of each month.

In addition, in an effort to keep costs down, we are asking for a contribution of ONE REAM of copy paper PER STUDENT.  As a reminder, the fees charged are used to cover the costs of running the co-op. None of the teachers or helpers are paid for their efforts. We really appreciate your cooperation since most of us are also homeschooling our own children.

 

We do need an email address for every student. If you haven't gotten that to us, please send it as soon as possible so we can get the log in/password information set up.

 

History Fair